Cable Operators to Showcase Their ‘Best’ Offerings : Television: Festival will show programs--many of which were seen on pay networks--free to subscribers over the next two weekends.

For the fourth year in a row, the Southern California Cable Assn. will present “Celebrating Cable’s Best,” a two-weekend festival designed to call attention to some of the past year’s finest original cable programs during the Emmy Award nominating period.

Seventeen area cable operators will present these programs--many of which were previously seen only by subscribers to such pay networks as the Disney Channel, HBO and Showtime--free to their subscribers in prime time over the next two weekends.

The festival will include original movies, documentaries, news programs and comedies, ranging from HBO’s “Without Warning: The James Brady Story” to Julie Brown’s Showtime spoof of Madonna’s concert film, “Medussa: Dare to Be Truthful,” to Disney Channel concerts featuring James Taylor, Paul McCartney and Gloria Estefan.

The programs will be available to nearly 2 million cable subscribers between San Diego and Ventura counties on:

* Avenue TV Cable

* Cablevision

* Cencom Cable

* Century Cable

* Comcast Cablevision

* Community Cablevision

* Continental Cablevision

* Copley-Colony

* Dimension Cable

* Jones Intercable

* King Video Cable

* Liberty Cable TV

* Paragon

* Sammons Communications

* Southwestern Cable

* United Artists Cable

Since cable operators will carry the programs on their local access channels, subscribers should call their cable company to find out exactly where to tune for the following programs.

Today

7 p.m. “World War II: A Personal Journey Part IV,” Disney.

8 p.m. “Dinosaur!,” A&E.;

9 p.m. “Medussa: Dare to Be Truthful,” Showtime.

Friday

7 p.m. “Fonda on Fonda,” TNT.

8-10 p.m. Four episodes of “Maniac Mansion,” Family.

Saturday

7 p.m. “Avonela: Facts and Fiction,” Disney.

8 p.m. “Without Warning: The James Brady Story,” HBO.

Sunday

7 p.m. “Mark Twain and Me,” Disney.

9 p.m. “Tails of Wood and Water,” Discovery.

June 4

7 p.m. “In the Company of Whales,” Discovery.

8:30 p.m. “Extreme Closeup: Dana Carvey,” E!

9 p.m. “Public Enemy 2,” Showtime.

June 5

7 p.m. “Coup D’Etat in the USSR,” CNN.

7:30 p.m. “Portrait of Castro’s Cuba,” TBS.

9 p.m. “James Taylor: Going Home,” Disney.

June 6

7 p.m. “Real Personal,” CNBC.

7:30 p.m. “Paul McCartney: Going Home,” Disney.

8:30 p.m. “Gloria Estefan: Going Home,” Disney.

June 7

7 p.m. TBA.

8 p.m. “Wildflower,” Lifetime.